Deadly Grace
by Lamanth
Summary: ONE SHOT – Years pass and people change and things that were once found annoying can become the focus of obsession. Sasuke/Ino


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Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, merchandise, TV rights, ect… (I think you get the point.)

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Summery 

ONE SHOT – Years pass and people change and things that were once found annoying can become the focus of obsession. (Sasuke/Ino)

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

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Lamb: Just a rather strange little idea that the plot bunnies brought to me. Crazy lil fluff balls.

**Muse:** Just like you. Except I'd say you were big and hairy, not small and fluffy.

Lamb: If you didn't live in my head, I'd bloody well shoot you.

_Dedi:_ It is tempting. Anyway this fic is dedicated to **pixieface Lust**, cus she's Lamb's new friend and anyone who has written as many Sasuke/Ino fics as she has deserves a dedication. So **pixieface Lust** this is for you.

Lamb: As always sorry for any bad spelling and if you feel the need to throw things at me please wait until I've hidden behind the sofa kay!?

M**use: **On with the fic!

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_If you were a king up there on your throne,  
Would you be wise enough to let me go,  
For this queen you think you own,  
Wants to be a hunter again,  
Wants to see the world alone again,  
To take a chance on life again,_

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**Deadly Grace**

It was almost like a dance, and his eyes burning with a crimson intensity followed every dip and sway of her lithe toned body with feral hunger. There was no wasted movement, every action was intentional and carried a deep and deadly propose. She did not throw away her energy in needles cries of rage or fury, the only sound was occasionally mumbled Jutsu as her fingers flitted like birds, almost to fast for the naked eye to see.

Her grace and speed were almost unnatural, and as he watched through lazy half lidded eyes, he wondered when the girl he had left behind had grown into this swift and silent predator. A light smile touched his lips as yet another of his _comrades_ fell before her, the kunai in her hand effortlessly slicing through the jugular and carotid artery in one fluid motion. Not a wasted movement; the sound nin fell to the ground clawing at his throat, his blood spilling between his fingers as his mouth stretched in a soundless scream.

The three surviving ninja looked at the bodies of their fallen companions, a trio of corpses whose lifeblood was seeping into the forest floor. Before the frantic, deranged sets of eyes quickly returned to the figure of the blonde female who stood smiling serenely in their midst. Like wolves poised for the kill the slowly began circling her, moving in such a way that she would never be able to see all three of them at once. Looking down on the scene he could have laughed at them.

Light blue eyes, bereft of pupils, watched their movements with seemingly only mild interest, the orbs the colour of the rain reflecting the peacefulness of her mood. Her face was smooth, the creamy skin pale and unmarred by cut or bruise, for not once had any of her opponents managed to land even a single blow. In each hand she lightly held a kunai, the light glinting brightly on the dark blades, she her arms hung loosely by her sides.

In the years since he left the village hidden in the leaves she had changed a great deal, had become more confident and self assured. She had simple learned at last how to be comfortable within the confines of her own skin. An attitude shift that showed its self in the way she held her head, the way she stood and even the way she had learned to control her breathing. The dark purple of her out fit clung to her body, while at the same time showing of her well-defined form; each and every muscle honed to perfection. And once again her hair, which she had cut off at the age of twelve, hung in a shimmering cascade of spun gold down her back.

Now he could see her for what she really was, no longer a clamouring greedy child, desperate for his attention, but a young woman with the grace and killer instinct of a jungle cat. If things were different he would have willingly taken her and held her by his side in the position she had once been so frantic to attain. His friend, companion, lover. For in her, he would surly find an equal whose will and desire matched his own.

And still the ninja circled ever closer to her, and in his mind he called them stupid. Yes, they belonged to the same village as he now did; the all served the same master, for now at least – Lord Orochimaru. But he held no feeling for the three men, except contempt that they could not see that all that waited in the centre of that ever-decreasing circle was curtain death.

No one dared to question him when he left the village, which he would often do following on the trial of one of the Sound's teams, a team that would likely as not never return. The blonde vixen made a point of never leaving any survivors unless her mission specifically requested her to do so. And it was for the strange pleasure he found in watching her fight, the almost sensual seductive movement of her body, which he would go looking.

Never once had he confront her himself, preferring to remain hidden from her sight. He, who liked to be sure of everything in his life, was uncertain what their confrontation would result in. Would he kill her? Would she try and kill him, or did her adolescent feelings towards him still hold sway over her heart?

Or perhaps what would start out as a fight would swiftly dissolve into something far more primitive and primal? But from there they would have no where to go; she would not leave her village, he could not return and he would not then be able to let her go. The question was one from which he continually shied away, but one to which he would soon need an answer less the constant wondering drive him insane.

It happened in a fleeting instant; he called it the pack instinct. The pack didn't leap because it had been commanded to do so; it leapt because all its collective minds knew that was the moment to do so. But even as they moved so did she.

One slender arm extended, the blade in her hand gleaming with wicked intent as it snaked out and slashed at the throat of the first nin, almost completely severing his head from the body. At the same time she kicked backwards with a long leg, her foot connecting with the head of the second opponent sending him sprawling unconscious to the floor. With a flick of her wrist the blade that had ended his comrades life found its mark at the point of his neck and from the shadows he reflected that this was without a doubt her favourite target.

And that left one remaining victim of her blood lust, one out of the team of half a dozen that he stumbled upon her. The man was maybe ten years her senior, dark hair falling round a pale drawn face with deep set sunken eyes, and even from his distance he could see fear written on that face. And was there for disgusted, but not surprised when the pathetic creature started to beg for his life. If she did not end his miserable worthless existence then he surely would, for weakness was something he could not abide.

But he knew he would not get the chance. Again a smile touched his lips as he looked upon the elegant huntress, so beautiful, so deadly. The second kunai dropped from her hand landing with a soft thump on the forest floor, a sound a omnibus as a death knell in that setting. She advanced slowly towards the sole remaining ninja, moving like a cat that had cornered a plump mouse, and the man cowered back for her as if her gaze hit him like the slash of a whip. And he had ever reason to fear that look.

Crimson eyes travelled over the lines of her body, moving almost like a caress. Yes, the snivelling fool had every reason to fear that look. It was the looked that ended all hope, that promised death, a look that said she was the end of all that he knew. Over the years he had seen that look maybe a handful of times, but none had mastered it quite like she had.

No animal had eyes like that, animals knew when they had lost and would slink away to lick their wounds, as would most people. But someone with eyes like hers…in a fight there was no alternative but to lay her out or cut her down, because otherwise she would do everything in her power to kill her advisory. It didn't matter what the odds against her were, for during that roaring moment of death and blood, she wasn't thinking. Her mind would simply switch off while she reacted to base animalistic instinct.

The look he bestowed on her was one that could have been of pride. It didn't matter how many times she was knocked down; she would always get back up. And when all weapons had been taken from her, when her chakra was so low that it was barley enough to keep her alive she would fly at her attacker with teeth and nails. She did not know how to give up and would continue to fight long after any other person would have admitted defeat and walked away.

In a last desperate act of self-preservation, the dark haird ninja's hand dived for his weapons pouch and quickly extracted three shuriken with he threw at the blonde. She dodged the missiles with ease, spinning like a practiced dancer and closed the distance between herself and the sound shinobi who was posed on the brink of death. All she needed to do was give him one final push.

Her foot struck his chest, knocking all breath from his body, fracturing ribs and sending him flailing to the ground. His eyes, wide and staring looked up at her impassive face; a face still smooth and bright with youth, a face with sensually full lips, the hue of dark red earth. She made no move and simply stood over him watching. It wasn't until after almost a full minute when the battered nin pulled himself shakily to his feet that she moved.

It took only one step for her to cover the space that separated them, and with a speed that was almost to swift to follow slammed the heel of her palm into the mans nose. Snapping the fragile bone and driving into his brain, with one easy move. He was dead almost before he hit the cold earth.

From the concealment of the shadows he looked on longingly, it was always over far more quickly than he would like. She was good at what she did, dispatching any who crossed her path with swift efficiency and never lingered long, never giving him the chance to satisfy his need for her. Though he doubted looking would ever be enough to fulfil his hunger.

She gave the fallen ninja one long slow look, before stretching cat like and turning from the sight, started to walk away. In the start she would bury the bodies of those who ran fowl of her but she had not done so for a long time, almost as if she felt that those from the Sound were undeserving of such consideration. Her strides were even and measured, and slow as if she could see no reason to hurry. But why should she, for there was nothing to fear.

Eyes watched every movement she made; the subtle swing of her hips, the way the breeze caught and tugged at her hair and the way long legs ate up the ground. And it was that last tormenting thought, of those long legs wrapped tightly round his waist the forced him to more. Too long spent watching, with no connection except the tenuous one fleeting glimpse his gave him complied him to confront her this time. To act now, whether he fought her or fucked her, but to end this circle of the watched and the watcher.

She tensed only momentarily when he landed silently in front of her, before relaxing one again. Pupiless eyes drifted over the contours of his face, reacquainting her with features of the one she had once idolised beyond reason. Unflinching she stood before him, feeling the full weight of the Sharingan pull at her, though she had been aware of it form the moment he had first activated it. Just as she had been every time he had watched her, and he thought himself so well hidden.

The ghost of a smile played at the corner of her mouth as he walked up to where she was still standing, raise of sunlight painting the earth around her with a swirling pattern of gold. His breath was a feather like touch against her cheek and this close her could smell the enticing perfume of her skin; earth and sweat and a faint hint of vanilla. Arms, noted and corded with muscle encircled her small waist, pulling her closer when she made no move to stop him.

All the time his eyes remained locked with hers. Burning crimson. Frozen icy-blue. Two unequally different sets of eyes, one with an over load of pupils and one lacking them completely. Two completely different people, but both looking for something to connect with.

"Sasuke"

"Ino."

And in that place filled with death and grace. Beauty and violence. Longing and loneliness. Where love and hate seemed to mix and mingle in way that could not be defined, it was all they needed to say.

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Lamb: See, I told it was strange but meh, who cares and with any luck I should be able to post the first of my drabbles by the start of next week. (dances)

**Muse:** Lets get this right, a set of 100 drabbles where you ignore things like times lines, stories archs, original plot lines and anything else that might get in your way.

Lamb: Yep, it's call poetic licence. Deal with it.

_Dedi:_ Oops. But anyway, **pixieface Lust** we hope you liked it.

Please R and R I'd love to know what you thought.

Big luv see ya

Lamanth


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